American Go E-Journal » 2013 » June

In the exciting concluding rounds to the third annual Young Kwon National Online Tournament, new American professional Andy Liu became this year’s champion, winning all five rounds. Liu earned professional status at last year’s

first AGA professional qualification event, sponsored by TygemGO, which took place just prior to the US Go Congress in North Carolina. Liqun Liu 7D took second in the 2013 YKNOT, winning 4 out of 5. Other band winners include Aaron Ye 5D, Willis Huang 3D, Larry Qu 1K, Matthew Machado 5K, and Yuliang Huang 21K. The tournament took place over the first two weekends in June on KGS. There were a total of about 60 players, some of whom were new AGA members, and for others, this was their very first online tournament. YKNOT3 sponsor Young Kwon was on hand during the rounds to watch the games and comment. TD Karoline Burrall extended thanks to all of the players who participated in the tournament. “Thanks also to our fantastic sponsor Young Kwon,” added Burrall, “as well as the team of TDs including Dennis Wheeler, Todd Heidenreich, Jay Tabaniag, and Julie Burrall.”

Andy Liu’s 5th-round game against Yue Zhang 7D — “Full of fighting and lively viewer commentary!” — is at right.

Seventh-grader Wilson Zhang 1k topped the Sixth Sunflower Happy Cup Youth Go Tournament, with four wins, on June 1 in Cupertino, California. “Forty-one elementary and middle school kids gathered together on a beautiful Saturday afternoon and played four to five rounds of 19×19 games,” reports Wenguang Wang, who organized the event. “To ensure a really fun experience for every kid, players earned prize tickets after each round, and then exchanged their tickets for various fancy prizes. Each participant was also rewarded with a trophy, and at the event’s conclusion all the kids and their parents enjoyed a refreshing ice cream party.” -Paul Barchilon, E-J Youth Editor. Photo by Ming Liao. Wilson Zhang is at left, in the blue shirt

The Nihon Kiin has informed Nihon Kiin America (NKA) that it intends to sell the East 52nd St building that formerly housed the New York Go Center. Nihon Ki-in CEO Mr. Hanyu will be in New York this week to discuss the matter further with Terry Benson, NKA President. “We think it’s a mistake to sell,” Benson says, “especially with New York real estate values climbing. We presented them with a detailed plan by which the building could be put back in use, pay for the cost to do so in less than three years, and be a permanent source of funds to cover its expenses and produce money to benefit American go. The plan was never given serious consideration.”

In a conference call Mr. Hanyu told NKA board members that the proceeds would be used to benefit American go. However Mr. Hanyu also said that the American community would only be “consulted” in determining how the funds would be used. The Nihon Ki-in would have the final authority. He also would not say whether the building would be offered for competitive bids in a public sale or in a private transaction like the one the Nihon Ki-in tried to close in 2011. “The Nihon Kiin has a fiduciary responsibility to make the most of Iwamoto sensei’s gift. A private sale to a friendly buyer would raise obvious suspicions. We will insist on transparency in everything to do with the building,” says Benson. “Iwamoto’s endowment to US go must benefit and be controlled by those who know how to promote go in the US. We hope the Nihon Ki-in honors Iwamoto’s intentions.”– photo: Andy Liu giving a lesson at the NYGC; photo by Roy Laird

China Dominates 18th LG Cup: The opening rounds of this Korean-sponsored international tournament were held in the city of Kangnung (also written Gangneung) in Korea on June 10 & 12. An excellent report has already been presented (Korea Knocked Out In LG Cup Stunner; Japan Fights On 6/13), so this report will fill in some some details.

The main news is undoubtedly the great success of the new young generation of Chinese players, who took six of the quarterfinal places. However, Japan also made a good start: with just four seeded players taking part (it failed to win any seats in the qualifying tournament), it secured two quarterfinal places, its best result for some years. Also, although he was eliminated in the 2nd round, Kono Rin 9P scored an excellent win in the first round, beating the player who recently won the Ing Cup, Fan Tingyu 9P of China.

The interesting point about the Chinese success is that the main contribution
is not being made by its senior players, such as Gu Li 9P, but by players in their teens and early 20s (I include ages below for the Chinese players to demonstrate this). It really does seem that by your late 20s you are past your peak in China and also in international go. This is also borne out by the early elimination of such great Korean players as the two Yis, Ch’ang-ho and Se-tol, Pak Yeong-hun, Pak Cheong-hwan, and others; these are names to conjure with, but they don’t overawe the Chinese youngsters. Japan operates by different rules, of course; apart from Iyama, its top players are in their thirties.

Catching Up On “Go Go Japan”: Two places out of eight may not seem a spectacular success, but for Japan it’s a big improvement on recent results. The go media here has been giving much of the credit to the foundation of a national team. Since I omitted to report on this earlier, now is a good time to catch up. Go Go Japan, the name of the national team, was chosen in a poll of go fans and announced on May 20 (the first word is English and the second refers to the game). The actual founding of a national team by the Nihon Ki-in and the Kansai Ki-in is dated to April 1 this year; the aim is to promote solidarity in international competition and to improve results. Members are the top 15 players in the prize-winning list, players with previous good results in international tournaments, the winners of the King of the New Stars, Hiroshima Aluminium Cup, the Okage Cup and Nakano Cup, the top ten women players, and all teenaged players, with the last-mentioned given the status of trainees (all of the above must volunteer for the team, though). This is quite a large pool, but there’s some overlap and the membership for the opening year, including coaches and playing coaches, amounts to 32 players. In theory, training camps and other events may be held, but the main activity so far has been setting aside Fridays and Saturdays for senior members of the team to play training games on the Net with the junior players. The most famous of the 30 players on the team are Iyama Yuta, Yamashita Keigo, Hane Naoki, Cho U, Takao Shinji, Kono Rin, Yuki Satoshi, and O Meien. Coaches are Yamashiro Hiroshi, who is also Vice President of the Board of Directors of the Nihon Ki-in, and Cho Riyu 8-dan, with Cho U and Takao acting as playing coaches. It’s hard to know how much of a boost the formation of the national team gave to the players competing in the LG Cup, but it’s certainly the focal point of the news coverage in Japan. Local fans are certainly hoping that this opening success is not a flash in the pan.

4th Asian Indoor & Martial Arts Games to Include Go: The 4th Asian Indoor & Martial Arts Games will be held in Incheon City in Korea from June 30 to July 5. Eight sports will be featured, including go, chess, billiards, bowling, and kick boxing. Participation represents yet another advance in raising the profile of go as a sport in Asia, following the major breakthrough in having it included as a regular competition sport at the 16th Asian Games in 2010. The Asian Indoor and Martial Arts Games are organized by the Olympic Committee of Asia and are held every four years in the year before the Asian Games. They are staged at the same venue, and Incheon will host this event and the 17th Asian Games next year. There are three go events: male individual, Pair Go (referred to as Rapid Mixed Team on the event’s HP), and male team. Ten countries or territories are taking part: Korea, China, Japan, Chinese Taipei, Malaysia, Singapore, Mongolia, Vietnam, Chinese Hong Kong, and Macao. Countries with professional organizations are fielding teams of low-dan, young players. The players representing Japan will be Hirata Tomoya 3P (aged 19), Tsuruta Kazushi 2P (aged 18), Motoki Katsuya 2P (aged 17), Sada Atsushi 1P (aged 17), Okuda Aya 3P (aged 24) and Fujisawa Rina 1P (aged 14).

Google has agreed to donate up to $120,000 per year to the American Go Foundation (AGF) in free AdWords, those text-based ads you see to the right when you search on Google. The AGF received this benefit by qualifying as a Google Nonprofit, a status available to 501c3 corporations. “This is a great new way to reach out to players, teachers, librarians, organizers and people who ought to be players,” said AGF President Terry Benson. The AGF’s first AdWords campaign attracted almost 200 hits in the first week, with a “Got Best Game?” theme; traffic on the AGF website is up at least 30%. Another benefit of the program is access to One Today, a crowdsourced microfinance fundraising app for 501c3s. The app, currently only available for Android, presents users with one charity every day, and asks for a donation of one dollar, or more if a donor is so inclined. Multiple charities are displayed each day, and users can pick who they want to donate to. The AGF is working on a One Today profile, and will go live on the app in the near future. Like Microsoft, Exxon, and other major corporations, Google also matches the contributions of employees who make charitable donations to organizations like the AGF. -Roy Laird

Gansheng Shi 1p, who qualified with Andy Liu 1p as an AGA pro in last year’s certification tournament, is scheduled to play in his first Korean pro tournament, the KT-Olleh Cup, on Monday June 17th. The young Canadian will play alongside Korean professionals and even receive a small game fee for playing. Top prize in the tournament is $100,000. The KT-Olleh is one of five tournaments that the Hankuk Kiwon (KBA) agreed to allow newly certified AGA pros to play in, and the first to start since Shi traveled to Korea last month. The next scheduled of the five is the Samsung Cup in August. “My goal in tournaments would be to win at least one game but it seems very difficult,” Shi told the EJ. Shi is studying at the Choong-Am Dojang in Seoul, with travel support from the AGA and tuition support from the KBA.

Shi says he is enjoying Korea, Korean food, and some new friends. He describes the Choong-Am as a “really quiet nice place to focus on go,” although he had difficulty adjusting at first. “I started off in league C … The first 2-3 weeks were really bad and I had a horrible losing record of something like 3-9, then I managed to stabilize in the league and was able to stay in league C without being moved to league D. The new month just started and I have been doing great so far, winning most of my games and I really hope to move to the next league after this month.” Shi fills his days with self-study of pro games and life and death until lunch, a game and then review with a teacher in the afternoon, more self-study and some exercise, and then a game after dinner. “I do feel like I’m progressing, because I have been improving in my record and winning a lot of games lately. Perhaps that is just me stabilizing but I do feel that I am learning a lot in the dojang.” -Andy Okun. Photo: Shi playing a simul at the Spring Go Expo earlier this year, from The Surrounding Game’s Facebook Page.

The Nihon Ki-in has just confirmed that the legendary Takemiya Masaki 9P will attend the 2013 U.S. Go Congress, which runs August 3-11 in Tacoma, WA. Famous for his ‘cosmic style‘ of play – focusing on the construction of large moyos and taking territory in the center — Takemiya wowed 2009 Congress attendees with his lectures, game commentaries and demonstrations of ballroom dancing. “We are so thrilled to welcome Takemiya sensei back to the U.S. Go Congress,” said American Go Association President Andy Okun. “We’re sure he’ll be even more illuminating and entertaining this year.” The Chinese Weiqi Association has also just announced that they’re sending two attendees – Yang Yi 6P and Chen Wei 3P — to the Go Congress. Yang (top left) is director of the Chongqing Qiyuan and senior coach of the Chongqing Go Team, while Chen (bottom left), also from the Chongqing Qiyuan, is Coach of the Chongqing Go Team. Chen primarily teaches now, and more than forty of his students have achieved amateur 5-Dan status. “We are deeply grateful to Chinese Weiqi for the help and collegiality in spreading go and building the go community in North America,” said Okun.– includes reporting by Lee Anne Bowie; Takemiya photo by Phil Straus

For the first time in the history of the LG Cup, there are no Koreans in the quarter final line-up. Korean fans were left in shock after Tuo Jiaxi 3P (left) knocked out Lee Sedol 9P (right) in a game with a very unusual opening. Japan continued the charge through the draw, with two of the Japanese players, Iyama Yuta 9P and Takao Shinji 9P, making it through, while Kono Rin 9P was defeated by Chen Yaoye 9P. This is the first time Japanese players have made it through to the quarter finals of the LG Cup since 2008, when Kono Rin did so. If Iyama or Takao manages to win the 18th LG Cup, it will be Japan’s first victory in this tournament since O Rissei (who was born in Taiwan) won it in 1998. There are six Chinese players still in the draw. The most notable is Li Zhe 6P, who is making an amazing comeback from his sabbatical, storming his way to the quarter final. Chen, Tuo and Li will be joined by their countrymen, Zhou Ruiyang 9P, Li Qincheng 1P and Xia Chenkun 2P. The two youngsters, Xia Chenkun and Li Qincheng, could turn out to be the dark horses in this competition, as China has some frighteningly strong children coming through the ranks. Though the quarter finals and semifinals will not take place until November, Japanese finalists Iyama and Takao will duel it out in the fourth game of the Honinbo on June 17 and 18. Meanwhile, Chinese finalist Chen Yaoye will compete against defending champion Lee Sedol on the international front at the Chunlan Cup also on June 17.-Annalia Linnan, based on reports — including pairings, photos, and game records — on Go Game Guru. photo at bottom left: Team Japan (from left, clockwise): Kono Rin, Takao Shinji, Yamashiro Hiroshi, Iyama Yuta and Hane Naoki.

England’s reigning pair go King and Queen lost their crowns last weekend. At the June 9 British Pair Go Championships, 25-time British Champion Matthew MacFadyen 6d and his wife and pair go partner Kirsty Healey 2k won the final game by 12.5 points to usurp the UK pair go throne held by 2012 champs Matthew Cocke 5d and Natasha Regan 1k . The outgoing royalty took some consolation from their prize for Best-Dressed pair, having come attired as a medieval royal couple (photo).

The event took place at Foxcombe Lodge Hotel, Boars Hill, near Oxford, England, and was organised by Francis Roads on behalf of the British Go Association (BGA). Click here for full results.– Tony Collman, based on material on the BGA’s website; photo by Tony Atkins
CORRECTION (6/17): MacFadyen-Healey won the final game by 12.5 points, not 2.5 as originally reported.

“Since Go Seigen will turn 100 in 2014, we thought it would be great if we, as a community of go players, could convince Google to celebrate Go Seigen’s 100th birthday with us,” said Go Game Guru’s David Ormerod. “Not only would this be a great way to mark the world’s greatest go player becoming a centenarian, it would also introduce many new people to this fascinating game.”

Email proposals@google.com and ask them to celebrate Go Seigen’s 100th birthday on June 12, 2014. Click here for Go Game Guru’s report, which includes an overview of the life of the “living legend.”